Sara Pickersgill

Kirkland & Ellis announced today that Sara Pickersgill will join the Firm as a partner in the London office to lead the Firm’s expansion in the European energy and infrastructure sector. Ms. Pickersgill is recognized as a leading M&A attorney for complex infrastructure, energy and renewables transactions. “Sara is widely regarded as among the top lawyers for energy and infrastructure deals in Europe, and she brings deep experience representing private equity sponsors and companies in the sector,” said Jon A. Ballis, Chairman of Kirkland’s Executive Committee. “As our energy and infrastructure practice continues to see strong demand, it’s exciting to add leading talent like Sara to the robust global platform we’ve built for this work.” Ms. Pickersgill has been ranked as a leading lawyer in infrastructure by Chambers UK and the Legal 500 U.K. for several years. She joins Kirkland from the London office of Allen & Overy, where she was co-head of the global infrastructure group. Kirkland’s Energy and Infrastructure group includes more than 400 attorneys across the Firm’s offices representing energy and infrastructure clients in a variety of complex transactions at the cutting edge of the industry. The team utilizes Kirkland’s deep experience across disciplines such as private equity, mergers and acquisitions, fund formation, capital markets, restructuring, IP, litigation and governmental investigations, together with deep energy and infrastructure specialists, to advise investment funds, strategic investors, borrowers, lenders and other participants in the market. “A strong European infrastructure team is a natural extension of our leading energy and infrastructure platform in the United States,” said Andrew Calder, a member of the Firm’s Executive Committee. “Many of our sponsor clients in particular have a global focus with respect to deployment of infrastructure capital and expect us to provide top tier advice across many jurisdictions. Sara will be responsible for leading the growth of our European energy and infrastructure practice and we anticipate that she will be the first of several hires in the sector in Europe. We are excited to welcome her to Kirkland.”

Sep 21

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis is advising Apollo-managed funds on their acquisition of a non-controlling stake in bp Pipelines TAP Limited, a subsidiary of bp (NYSE: BP, LSE: BP.L) that holds a 20% share in Trans Adriatic Pipeline AG (TAP), in a transaction valued at approximately $1 billion. TAP AG is the owner and operator of the final 880-kilometer leg of the Southern Gas Corridor pipeline system that transports natural gas from the bp-operating Shah Deniz gas field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea to markets in Europe such as Greece and Italy – it is a key infrastructure asset for meeting European energy demand. Read Apollo’s press release The Kirkland team is led by corporate partners Monica Gemes, Toby Parkinson, Sara Pickersgill, Nick Appleton, Adam Larson and Stephen Noh and associates Tom Lawless, Toshi Mahapatra, Patrick Lingwall and Nicholas Rinehart; debt finance partners Mary Kogut, James Boswell, James McGivern, Shan Khan and Jeffrey O'Connor and associates Christina Godard, Chiara Song, Kaitlin Schock and Aaron Shubert; tax partners Peter Abbott, Siv Devakumar, Mark Dundon and Thomas Evans and associates Weiwei Chen and Alexandria Solomou.

Sep 23

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised Engine No. 1, an investment firm focused on decarbonization and the relocalization of North American supply chains, in connection with its binding agreement with Vale to invest in Vale Base Metals (VBM), the holding entity for Vale’s energy transition metals business. Engine No. 1’s investment is being made simultaneously with an investment in VBM by Manara Minerals, a joint venture between Ma’aden and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Engine No. 1 and Manara are collectively investing $3.4 billion, resulting in an implied enterprise value for VBM of $26 billion. This strategic partnership will fast-track VBM’s expected $25-30 billion capital program over the next decade and help drive a significant potential increase in VBM’s production, generating jobs, economic growth, procurement and supplier opportunities, as well as socioeconomic benefits in communities across the key critical mineral jurisdictions where VBM operates. Read the transaction press release The Kirkland team was led by corporate partner Kyle Watson and associates Gabrielle Sumich and Andrei Bucur; real asset partner Chris Heasley and associate Jonathan Strom; international trade & national security partner Luci Hague; and tax partners Mark Dundon and Alexander Cox and associate Rikesh Gandhi; with assistance from corporate partners Sara Pickersgill, Victoria Legg, Hayley Hollender and Kamran Bajwa.

Jul 28

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis is advising KKR on an agreement under which KKR will acquire a 25% stake in Enilive, Eni’s mobility transformation company dedicated to biorefining, biomethane production, smart mobility solutions and providing services to support people on the move. Closing of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. Enilive aims to provide progressively decarbonized services and products in support of a sustainability-driven mobility transformation. Read KKR’s press release The Kirkland team includes corporate lawyers Toby Parkinson, Sara Pickersgill, Nick Appleton, Serra Tar, Claudia Carr, Melissa Sawyer and Shaun Boyle and debt finance lawyers Sinead O'Shea, James Boswell, Jia Meng, Luca Misseroni, James McGivern, Marco Convertini and Hannah McLaughlin.

Oct 24

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis announced today that leading infrastructure transactions lawyer Toby Parkinson will join the Firm as a partner in its London office to co-lead the Firm’s expansion in the European energy and infrastructure sector. Mr. Parkinson is recognized as a leading M&A attorney for complex infrastructure, energy and renewables transactions. “Toby is recognized as one of the top infrastructure M&A lawyers in the market,” said Jon A. Ballis, Chairman of Kirkland’s Executive Committee. “Together with our other recent infrastructure hires and our leading private equity M&A team, he will further enhance our infrastructure transaction capability in Europe.” The Legal 500 UK and Chambers UK have honored Mr. Parkinson as a leading infrastructure lawyer, and The Lawyer named him to its “Hot 100” list of lawyers to watch in 2019. He joins Kirkland from Clifford Chance, where he was co-head of the global infrastructure group. Mr. Parkinson previously worked as a lawyer for OMERS Infrastructure, the $30 billion AUM infrastructure investment arm of Canadian municipal employee pension plan OMERS. Kirkland’s Energy and Infrastructure Practice Group includes more than 400 attorneys across the Firm’s offices representing energy and infrastructure clients in a variety of complex transactions at the cutting edge of the industry. The team utilizes Kirkland’s deep experience across disciplines such as private equity, mergers and acquisitions, fund formation, capital markets, restructuring, IP, litigation and governmental investigations, together with deep energy and infrastructure specialists, to advise investment funds, strategic investors, borrowers, lenders and other participants in the market. “We are committed to building the premier energy and infrastructure practice in Europe to meet the needs of our sponsor clients looking to deploy infrastructure capital on a global scale,” said Andrew Calder, a member of the Firm’s Executive Committee. “Toby is another important piece of that puzzle and we are excited to have him on board.” Mr. Parkinson is the latest of several London-based hires for Kirkland in the infrastructure and energy space. The Firm announced the hiring of Sara Pickersgill, James Boswell and Paul Sampson last month.

Oct 17

1 min